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Power Outage Does Not Help Car Burglars Flee From Authorities

June 5th, 2015 | By Efrain Sandoval

Two men in their twenties face a
slew of charges after they broke into cars in downtown Saugatuck then attempted
to flee from police, with one crashing a stolen truck in the process, say local
authorities.

The
break-ins and attempted car theft occurred at about midnight during Consumers
Energy’s power outage, which was scheduled for this past Monday at 12:00 a.m.
throughout the greater Saugatuck area for approximately six hours for critical
repair work.

“We were fortunate the personnel of
the fire department were in downtown Saugatuck—they were there for the power
outage— when this happened. They are to be commended; I am glad they were out
and about,” Saugatuck-Douglas Police Department Chief Ken Giles told The Local
Observer on Tuesday, about the fire department’s role in capturing the alleged
criminals.

He
sees no connection between the power outage and the alleged crimes, explaining
the two (arrested) individuals were more than likely not aware of Consumers’
planned outage, but were probably glad there were no lights on because they believed
they would be less perceivable to their victims and other people.

The
chief says that the men broke into several cars around Mason and Butler streets. One fled on foot. The other helped himself to
a truck and took police for a chase, but he didn’t get far—in his haste to get
away from police, he rammed into two parked vehicles at Ridgewood Oak
Apartments (on North Maple Street near the North Street intersection), got the
truck jammed then immediately got out of it to run away on foot.

Both
subjects were caught behind the swampy area of the Mildred Peterson Nature
Preserve and immediately arrested, said Giles.

Besides
the Saugatuck Township Fire District Department, the Allegan County Sheriff’s
Office deputies as well as the state police were involved in responding to the
incident.

The
name of the alleged criminals—one from the City of Holland, the other from the
City of Zeeland—will not be released until they are arraigned at Allegan County
57th District Court this week, Giles told the paper.

The
Consumers Energy’s power outage that occurred this past Monday was a
rescheduled event, as the previously planned outage did not occur. The power
was shut off for safety reasons as Consumers conducted main substation repairs
on a broken switch.